Growing up
by Dev Castle
Summary: What happens if Castle does the one thing everyone tells him to do, Grow Up. An AU after '47 seconds'.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:The show Castle and its characters are the property of Andrew Marlowe and ABC**

 **Chapter 1**

 _"I was shot in the chest and I remember every second of it."_

The words still ringing in his mind hours later as he sits in his office nursing a glass of scotch. She lied, and a darker part of his mind was telling him he shouldn't be surprised. The same part which started whispering the worst case scenarios regarding him and Kate every time she pushed him away. It was asking him why he was surprised, it wasn't as if it hadn't happened before.

 _"We have our whole life, right Kyra?"_

 _"Off course we do Rick, you are not gonna lose me anytime soon"_

 _But he knew it was a lie, he had seen all her plans for Europe, even had heard her talk to her mother about her plans of moving. But even then some stupid part of his brain was hoping it to be true, the same stupid part which had compelled him to buy the ring. But the dark part won and he got the real truth when she left him standing at Grand Central Station after their last dance not even 6 weeks later._

 _"Meredith you need to spend some time with your daughter, she hasn't seen you properly for the past 3 days, she needs her Mom."_

 _"I promise I will spend time with her tomorrow, when you go for your meetings, but I can't today, this audition is really important to me, and crap I'm late, I gotta go."_

 _And she left with a parting Love you, Ricky in the air, and he knew it was a lie, he knew she didn't really love him, she just needed him, for his money, for his fame, for getting whatever she wanted in life. Truth was for her motherhood and marriage was just an obligation, a binding. Still the stupid part of his brain hoped maybe they could make this work, maybe she would change and they could have the happy married life with a house in suburbs with white fences. But the dark part won and he got the real truth the next day when he came home early from his meeting to find Alexis crying up a storm and his wife riding a bald guy on the couch._

 _"And we have to go the Clay's night club opening.. Richard are you listening to me?"_

 _"Depends, if you are asking as my publisher or my wife, because you are acting a lot like my publisher right now."_

 _"Off course as your wife you doofus, we are married, I love you Richard."_

 _Maybe she did, but not his real self, she loved Richard Castle, the party goer, the playboy, not the loving and caring Dad, not the guy who loved to play laser tag. For her this marriage was actually what it was, a signature on a paper, a contract. All she wanted was a little more control in his life and maybe a little payback for being a pain in the ass. But the stupid part of his brain hoped maybe she would come to love Richard Rogers as well and maybe then he could open the wall around Alexis. But she never did and the wall never opened and the dark part won 2 months later when the both filed for divorce._

And here he was back full circle, strike 4 (because he needed an extra one), reeling back from another lie but this was far worse because this time he had actually truly believed the stupid part of his brain and had been listening to it since the swings. He had been lost in his dreams of his future with Beckett, of how extraordinary they would be that he had phased out the darker part for the most part but now it was back with vengeance, slapping him back to the harsh reality, that no one could love Richard Castle, the fun man child, the 9 year old on sugar rush that he had made himself into to see and experience the world with his daughter and to keep the thoughts of dark demons away from her. But his daughter is all grown now, soon she would graduate from high school and go off to college to face the world's demons all on her own. She's not his baby bird anymore.

He smiles as he looks at the photo on his desk, of him and a 6 year old Alexis perched on his shoulder, both of them laughing without a care in the world. He remembers the day as if it was yesterday

 _"And now warrior cloud is slaying the dragon cloud, look" he says pointing as two clouds collide and merge together._

 _His daughter giggles beside him,"Don't be silly Daddy, clouds cant be warriors or Dragons."_

 _"They can be if you have good imagination" he says as he starts tickling her. She manages to say Let me go and swings between laughs and he releases and she dashes towards the swings giggling and poking her tongue out at him which he gladly reciprocates. He sighs and climbs up to sit on a bench keeping an eye on her Daughter as a woman in her mid 20s sits beside him._

 _"She is adorable" the woman says looking at her daughter._

 _"She is the love of my life" he replies back without even glancing at the woman. He knows what is coming next, frankly he was surprised they had waited this long._

 _"If you are thinking, I am here to get you back in the game and sprout some bullshit like you owe your country, you are mistaken Rogers" she says all of a sudden, surprising him and making him turn to look at her._

 _"Then why are you here Natasha, did father send you?"_

 _"No, I just wanted to see the reason you quit with my own eyes, and also because I didn't get to say goodbye" with that she turns to her purse and removes a photograph of him and Alexis from a couple of hours ago and hands it to him._

 _He takes it and flips it over after a few seconds to see a note and a number written on the back_

 _'You saved my life once so I'm in your debt, if you ever need me call me'_

 _When he turns to her, he finds her gone. Damn, the old man never taught him that move._

Sighing, he stands up, putting his untouched scotch on the table and moves towards the digital board, switching it on. He looks at her face for a long moment and then turns, removes the photograph from the frame, picks out a burner phone from his bottom most desk drawer and dials and waits till the call picks up. Nobody says anything for a moment but he knows she's there.

He's the one to break the silence

"Nat, I think I need you help." The call drops immediately but the message was delivered, now he just had to wait for her to show up.

Snapping the burner phone in two, he once again turns to look at her photograph on the smart board.

Yep, he knows what he has to do, he won't stop being her partner, after all he promised her Always.

No, he just had to grow up and move on.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:The show Castle and its characters are the property of Andrew Marlowe and ABC**

 **Chapter 2**

Standing in front of the Manhattan high rise, Castle tried to muster up the strength, he knew he was gonna need to keep his emotions at bay along with all the acting genes from his mother like he has been doing for the past two weeks. He knew this was important, it wasn't about him, it was about the victims, about providing justice just like he had told his mother. He couldn't just walk away from this, just because Beckett didn't love him. It wasn't her fault that he fell in love with her and he knew that part of the reason for her lie was that she was scared that he would up and leave when she told him she didn't feel the same way. He knew she had trust and abandonment issues because of her past and any normal person would have succumbed under similar circumstances but she didn't, she gathered strength and rose every time darkness overcame her in form of another person abandoning her. He wouldn't be another one of those person. He would stay because he made her a promise, a promise to be there when she arrested the son of bitch behind Johanna's murder. He would stay because she considered him her partner, her friend, she trusted him with her life just not enough to give him her heart, that was the reason she never said anything, she was giving him time to move on, letting him down gently, because even though he could scale her walls, she would never let him enter, there would always be a thin layer between them, a layer which could only be broken by trust.

Sighing he started walking up the steps to the main entrance where two uniforms where talking with the doorman, giving them each a nod he moved towards the elevator carrying the customary two cups of coffee. As he stood there in the elevator waiting for it to reach its destination, he pondered upon what would be the new meaning of these coffee he brings her. To him this was a morning kiss, a way to see that dazzling smile light up her face, he still remembers when he brought her coffee for first time

 _"Grande skim latte with two pumps of sugar free vanilla and a bear claw" he announced walking towards the Detective who was getting out of her car._

 _She gave him a dazzling smile full of surprise and awe and he was gone from that moment, he promised himself he would buy all the coffee in the world just for that smile. He barely registered her enquiry of how did he found out and his writer excuse because he was still mentally saving the beautiful picture of her smiling face._

He was brought out of his musings with the elevator ping and he prepared himself for the coming stage. It was like any other crime scene, Lanie was hunched beside the victim, Ryan and Esposito were asking the neighbours questions and Beckett was circling the victim listening to Lanie's preliminary, with the obvious question playing in her mind,'Who did this to you?' It was like a rehearsed play, and now he just needed to make a inappropriate joke, flirt with Beckett and the play would be complete. Not anymore.

He walked towards her and handed her the coffee, getting a thanks in return and stood there beside her listening to Lanie's description of the victim and started his profile. The cause of death, the obvious steak knife that was jabbed straight in his heart, the blood pool indicating he was killed here, and the destruction suggested there was a scuffle which the victim obviously lost. Castle started walking around looking for the pieces to the puzzle, on the southern most corner of the room there was safe cracked open with files littered outside and a couple of bundles of cash, the safe was old and possibly wouldn't have required much effort to open. He had already noted that the main door to the apartment was forced open. The apartment was in a old building and looking around one could see it wasn't lived in much and thus wasn't maintained. The paint was fading and the windows were old. He walked over towards the window with the fire exit, opening it he looked down to see a patrol car standing in the back alley and the fire exit ladder was up.

Moving back towards the Detectives he listened as Beckett gave orders for canvassing and finding next of kin of the thief, hmm that was new. Seeing that she was finished he spoke up, "Something is not right."

"Finally, we were hoping when you would sprout your conspiracy theory, we were getting worried." Espo exclaimed with a smirk.

Giving him a half smile, Castle continued on,"Look at the apartment, its clearly not lived in and is thus not maintained, but still the floor looks relatively new." With that he started walking around the apartment tapping his foot every two steps on the wooden surface, until he reached a section where a wooden board was fit loosely. The Detectives watched as he dropped down on his knees and started removing a couple of wooden planks to reveal a bio metric safe with its door open and insides empty.

The Detectives watched slack jawed as he stood up dusted his pants and started walking towards the fire escape,"Now look at this window and compare its lock with all the other windows, This one is a new auto lock mechanism whereas the rest are old and rusted, probably the original ones that came with the windows. I would bet if you go to the roof you would find the roof door busted open."

He turned noted the stunned expressions of his colleagues and continued,"My profile suggests the owner is involved in some illegal smuggling and he was hiding the goods in the secret safe, the apartment is relatively old but in a decent part of town so he was clearly thinking of hiding the goods in plain sight, our victim here is run of the mill burglar, who saw the opportunity to steal some goods, but clearly ran into a professional burglar who was looking for the smuggle goods. The professional stabbed him with the steak knife from the kitchen and left through the same way he came, through, the fire exit going up to the roof. He broke the old window lock while entering and replaced it with a new auto lock mechanism so that the window would close automatically and he believed since the owner clearly doesn't live here would thus not be well familiar with a trivial thing such as window locks and wouldn't notice, well that is at least till he found that the safe was empty. But that is just my conspiracy theory anyway, I'll see you guys at the precinct." With that he walked out of the apartment leaving the cops in stunned silence.

As he stood in the elevator waiting for it to reach the ground floor his only thoughts were,'Yeah he could grow up and be a good partner.'


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:The show Castle and its characters are the property of Andrew Marlowe and ABC**

 **Author note: Thank you all for reading my story and reviewing it. I have taken some dialogues from canon for this chapter.**

 **Chapter 3**

Something's different.

Something's weird different.

It had been weird between them for the past 4 years but for the past 2 weeks it's different weird. Bad weird. Its like the tension between them changed from sexual to 'I-would-rather-drink-a-vat-of-acid-than-stay-here' tension. To a normal person they still looked the same Castle and Beckett, but looking closely you could see that Castle has changed, like a switch has been flipped, she even can't remember the last time Castle cracked a wise ass comment at a crime scene. She has no idea what happened, and that is unacceptable. Someone is gonna face a interrogation. Picking up her phone she texts, 'Girl's night tonight. You and I need to talk girlfriend.'

Beckett's reply comes immediately, 'I'll order Chinese.'

HA! Chinese was the last thing on Lanie's mind. She had questions and she needed answers. She just hoped the plane hasn't crashed because her gut was telling that the holding pattern Castle and Beckett were in has ended with the plane finally running out of fuel.

-X-

Sitting on Beckett's kitchen island, watching her fill her wine glass, Lanie was getting impatient. All night she had tried to get a scope on their relationship, throwing Beckett curve ball questions because she knew direct questions would result in only one thing, Beckett shutting up . But so far what she got has diminished her hope for Castle and Beckett's relationship as Beckett seemed to be oblivious to any changes in Castle's behaviour. Finally thinking that she has had enough, Lanie asks, "So what's up between you and Castle?"

Surprised with the sudden change in topic, Beckett replied, "Nothing's up. I solve murders and he follows me around."

"Girl, don't give me that! Don't tell me you haven't noticed that it's been weird between you lately."

Sighing Beckett replied, "Lanie its not weird, Castle's my partner end of story."

"Yeah well if he is your partner how come you haven't seen that Castle's changed?"

"Changed?" came Beckett's confused reply.

Lanie knew it was time to open Kate's eyes and to make her see how much time she has wasted and push her to get her act together before it is finally too late, if it isn't already. So she decided to set her straight,"Yeah changed. Not physically but more emotionally. Tell me, when was the last time Castle cracked a joke? Tell me the last time Castle actually flirted with you or sent some innuendo your way or had your usual banter with you? Hell do you really think I came up to the bullpen yesterday just to give you vic's information and have that sinful coffee? No! I came to see the interaction between the two of you and in under 10 minutes I could see something has changed. Hell even bullheaded Javi has sensed the change in Castle after he got his ass handed for that conspiracy theory comment. But you were still being oblivious to all that and just happy to have your 'partner' at your side. But let me tell you girlfriend, he might be physically there but I think he has stepped off emotionally and my best guess is that he's tired of waiting."

In a small voice which Lanie almost missed Kate said, "But he said he would wait for me."

Storing the information that they have already had a talk relating their relationship, Lanie said, "Yeah but sweetie he is human after all, and how long did you think he would wait without getting any semblance of hope from you for your future together" holding up her hand to stop Kate's intrusion "I know you, so don't deny it. You need to give him some hope until you get over whatever bullshit reason you concocted to keep him at arms length, because frankly from his side and anybody else's it just looks like you are stringing him along. Girl that guy is crazy about you and despite your little act you are crazy about him. What, was it supposed to be some big secret?" Lanie finished rhetorically looking at Beckett's glare. Beckett's phone interrupted her reply. Yep they had a crime scene.

-X-

"Don't think you were saved by the bell, Kate Beckett. As your friend, I'm not gonna let this drop." Lanie said as they made their way through the yellow tape around the Motel parking.

"So, what, you think I should tell him how I feel?" Kate asked with a hopeful look on her face.

"Yes! You hunt murderers for a living. You can do this."

"Okay. Okay. I jus- I-I have to find the right time."

Before Lanie could reply they both were interrupted by loud growling noise of a V8 engine as a grey Shelby Mustang pulled up by the Motel parking and Rick Castle stepped out looking like a mirror image of Esposito, and with just a nod in their direction made his way towards the crime scene.

"I want to say 'I told you so' but I don't want to be mean." Lanie commented breaking Beckett out of her stunned reverie.

As she started walking towards the waiting dead body Lanie gave her friend one last incentive to get her act together, "Bring that man back girl, because if you fail you won't be the only one with a loss. We might lose our friend as well." With that she turned and headed towards the motel room leaving Beckett deep in thought.

-X-

As Beckett entered the motel she saw Castle silently walking around the room, taking it all in. She frowns, he has been doing that a lot lately, staying silent. She snaps out of it as Esposito starts speaking, "Our victim's Naomi Allen, age 25. Her green card indicates that she's a British national. Ryan is notifying the consulate."

Checking Naomi's ID Beckett asks, "Her address is in Soho. What was she doing all the way down here?"

"Don't know, but she checked in two hours before she was killed. Good news is, we have a witness. The maid who discovered the body saw a guy run out and she's with the sketch artist now." Esposito finished seeing Beckett's upturned brow.

All of a sudden Castle comments from behind surprising them, "Well, whoever he is, he was looking for something. This place has been searched and she wasn't robbed either. Her wallet, watch and cash were untouched." Pointing towards the said item and then silently started walking looking for more clues.

Sighing at his quiet demeanour Beckett made her way towards Lanie, "Hey, Lanie, how does it look?"

"Like you waited too long." Came Lanie's quick answer.

With a glare Beckett stated, "The vic."

"She was strangled, but she went down with a fight. Prelim suggests a sign of a struggle. She took one to the face."

"A well-dressed, attractive woman in a seedy motel and a guy who flees the crime scene—this might have been a one-night stand gone wrong." With that she stood up beckoned Esposito and ordered him to contact next of kin and canvass the area as Ryan comes holding on a card, "Hey, Beckett. Found the vic's business card in a side pocket of her purse. Looks like she works in Manhattan."

Castle reads from the evidence pouch, "'Naomi Allen, Kittman Group.' This a modelling agency that Black Pawn frequents. I will try to get a appointment with her booking agent for tomorrow morning."

"That would be great Castle. Thanks." Beckett says giving him a small smile and then turned to Ryan, "Alright, you stay here till CSU finishes up, then we will meet at the precinct tomorrow after Castle and I interview her booking agent." With that she turned and headed out the door all the while worrying her lower lip, thinking for something to say to Castle who was now making his way towards his car.

"I didn't know you were a muscle car guy Castle." She comments looking at his grey Shelby Mustang with just a hint of black racing strips.

"Yeah I'm kind of a Mustang fan. Have been ever since my teenage years." Castle comments while unlocking his car.

"I thought the Ferrari was your baby, with all your photographs in the newspaper and all." The thought slips out of her mouth before she could think about it.

Pausing by the door briefly Castle gives her a small smile, "The Ferrari serves a purpose, but that really isn't me. Its just for the image, after all nothing speaks playboy more than a shiny Red Ferrari." With that he got into the car and drove off.

Kicking herself for her Ferrari comment Kate vowed to herself, 'I know you have given up Rick, but I'm not going down without a fight either. Somehow I'm gonna make you believe that there is a future with us together.' And she turned and headed for her cruiser all the while planning how to get her man child back.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:The show Castle and its characters are the property of Andrew Marlowe and ABC**

 **Chapter 4**

Turning off the ignition, Castle lets out a long breath as he sits there thinking about the crime scene. Naomi Allen, age 25, lived in the city but still rented a room in the motel, it did look like a one-night stand gone wrong as Beckett had suggested. Beckett was acting weird-No, crime scene focus. So, killer wasn't in it for the money or the jewellery but he still searched her room so that means he was looking for something else. Beckett kept looking at him sideways all night and she looked worried and hesitated before she said anything to him.. Jesus he can't focus on the crime scene and he doesn't have the energy to analyse Beckett's new mood change. Sighing he started to get out of the car, smiling as he remembered the stunned faces of his colleagues after he put Espo down a peg, he still felt a little sorry for that..No, who was he kidding, he didn't and after 4 years of restraining himself and giving his observations in form of stupid theories, he feels good to finally let himself loose.

As he turns to lock his car, his smile falters as he feels a hand creep around his neck in a choke hold and a barrel of a gun at the side of his head, just as in a sultry voice his assailant whispered, "You are getting slow Rogers," but before she could finish he had grabbed the barrel of the hand gun with his left hand and turned anti clockwise, spinning his assailant along and pinning her with his car and her handgun sandwiched between them pointing right in the middle of her heaving chest.

With a full on smirk he countered, "Still think I'm slow Nat?"

With a similar smirk she just shook her head and pushed him off her just as he gave back her her handgun. She took him in, he looked good, his face gathering a rugged handsomeness to it over the years, and for a man who hasn't been in the game for the past decade he is fast. She is broken out of her perusal by his teasing voice, "Like what you see?" She flushes, Dammit how does he always manage that.

Laughing he turns and starts heading towards the elevator with Natasha following behind. As they entered the elevator he asked, "So, what took you so long?" Trying to get a scope on how big the conspiracy was. He knows Nat likes to covers all her bases first, does thorough research of her target before coming out in the field. It was totally opposite of Beckett who likes to charge headlong and think of consequences later. When he feels the absence of her reply he turns towards her and sees the serious look on her face. "Lets wait till we get inside," comes her serious reply. He falls silent thinking how big this was if Natasha is this serious. As the elevator reaches his floor, they get out and slowly make their way towards his door. He ushers her in after opening the door and quietly says, "Mother and Alexis are asleep upstairs. Lets head to my office," and leads her to his office where he takes out two glasses and fills them with scotch.

As he turns he finds her studying his Beckett murder board. He hands her her glass and watches as she takes all the information in that he has collected, probably combining it with information that she has collected. All of a sudden she asks, "What's in it for you?"

He knew it was coming, after all she wouldn't be his ex-partner if she didn't cover all her bases. "I just want her to be happy. Want her to have the closure that she never got and also complete my promise to be by her side when she cuffs the man responsible for all this mess so that she can move on with her life and I can move on to live my own," he finishes looking straight at her current partner's picture.

"You love her, don't you?"

"More than life itself, but it doesn't matter," he finishes after little hesitation.

Sighing to herself, she turns to look back at the murder board and starts telling him what she found, "I have located her shooter, his name is Cedric Marks, former special forces, He is going by the name of Cole Maddox currently. It wasn't hard seeing he observes her 24 hours a day. I managed to clone his phone when he took an off night. He gives daily reports to his employer but we can't identify him through his voice since he uses a military grade voice scrambler. What we do know is that he has given Maddox orders to observe and report Beckett and he also has him looking for a file and a tape, I'm guessing its the same file that this Mr. Smith has but I have no clue about this tape. I also managed to trace Maddox's account for payment and it directed me to a Cayman account, so I had Jimmy do his tech thing and he gave me a name, Vulcan Simmons, I believe you have had a run in with him," she said glancing at his clenched fists at the drug lord's name. After taking a sip from her glass she continues, "He is running a drug empire, primarily cocaine from his headquarters in upstate New York, where he is currently hiding. Its surrounded by armed guards 24/7 but I think I can sneak in one of the party buses that arrives there every night. So you what do you want me to do?" She asks after relaying her Intel.

Castle thinks over what he has heard. After a couple of minutes he says, "Alright we are gonna keep monitoring Maddox's calls and start keeping an eye on his movements as well. Our primary task is to find out the name of the person behind this and also get our hands on that file, We'll focus on the tape later. Also is there any contact between Simmons and Maddox?"

"Not that I know of."

"Well then you do your thing and get any Intel from Vulcan's lair that you can and since there is no physical contact between Maddox and Simmons we don't need to worry about Maddox recognising your cover," He finishes walking over to the window overlooking the Manhattan skyline.

"My cover?" Comes Natasha's confused reply.

"You know since you are gonna be coming and going from the loft more, we need to find an appropriate cover for you," taking a sip of his scotch after he finishes.

"Oh, you don't need to worry about that." Comes her reply full of laughter and something else.

When he turns to ask her Why he finds her gone with her glass still filled, sitting at his work table. Damn that is annoying as hell...but kinda cool too. He turns and continues looking out at the Manhattan skyline.

-X-

As morning arrives, Castle finds himself standing in front of his building waiting for Beckett. She had texted him last night as he was going to sleep, that she will pick him up for the interview with the booking agent in the morning. This was another evidence of Beckett's changing demeanour. She usually doesn't pick him up in the morning, only when he requests her to, but never voluntarily. Shaking his head to stop himself from overthinking he waits for his partner to arrive.

He catches a glimpse of the cruiser at the intersection and watches as it comes to stop right in front of him. He opens the door and slides inside and turns to thank her only to find her giving him a tentative smile and a go to coffee cup. He is so surprised that he could only utter a simple, "Thank you." He watches transfixed as the smile on her face grows substantially larger and she turns back to the road.

Okay something is definitely changing.

-X-

As they made their way into the bullpen after the interview with Claire Penchard, Naomi's booking agent, Beckett's mind has already started working on the case and putting the clues together. As she moves towards the murder board she asks, "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"That maybe Naomi somehow got into that party last night and that that's where she met killer. Than yeah," Castle comments from her side.

"Its like as if our minds are connected," Beckett jokes hoping he would pick it off and continue their usual banter maybe make a joke about their minds being in sync. She is disappointed when Castle only gives her a half smile and turns towards the board. Sighing she beckons Ryan over asking him if he found anything at Naomi's apartment.

"No, but someone else might have. It's been tossed. Not only that, but a neighbour said they saw a man leaving the apartment late last night. The neighbour ID-ed him off the sketch. It's the same guy who fled the murder scene."

"He couldn't find what he was looking for in the motel, so he searched her place," Castle comments.

"Yeah, but this time, he left a footprint. And canvass around the apartment revealed that he bought a bottle of single malt with a credit card a couple blocks away," showing Beckett the credit card statement

"Colin Hunt. What do we have on him?"

"Nothing in the system, but I ran a trace on the credit card. He checked into the Mondrian Soho, this morning."

"Alright you look into the party that Naomi got herself into, Castle and I are gonna bring in this Colin Hunt," with that Beckett grabbed her jacket and made her way towards the elevator with Castle in tow.

-X-

Sitting in the bullpen along with Detective Inspector Hunt, Castle tries to get a read on the man. He can clearly see the pain in his eyes of losing someone close. He can also sense the determination to get the person responsible behind it. He can't stop himself from spotting the similarities between Hunt and his partner. He saw Beckett check Hunt out when he pulled the cliche trick of dropping the towel when they went to bring him in and wonders if she would pursue him. He is brought out of his musings as Hunt asks, "What's she like, your Captain?"

"She is strong and determined as you can expect any woman at her position in the NYPD to be, she just doesn't like outsiders in her precinct," Castle answers from his own experience with Captain Gates.

"I don't need her to like it. I just need her to allow it. This whole thing with Naomi doesn't add up. Turning down conventional modelling jobs, booking sleazy gigs at private parties—that just doesn't sound like the Naomi I know," Hunt comments.

Looking at Beckett through Gate's window Castle says, "Yeah, well, sometimes it's the people we think we know the best that we don't really know at all."

Suddenly Gates appears at her office door and barks, "Mr. Castle, my office, now."

Wracking his brain for what he did wrong he makes his way to Gate's office.

"Close the door Mr. Castle," Gates instructs and waits for him to close the door and stand beside Beckett who looks equally lost as to why he was beckoned over.

Gates studies them for a moment, the dynamic duo as the police peers have taken upon calling them. She has looked over their history of case closures and frankly was surprised to see the presence of Castle had actually increased the closure rate of their team and not only that they have been instrumental in solving high profile cases with other Government agencies as well. So frankly she shouldn't be surprised that someone has shown interest in this unconventional partnership's working.

"It seems you both have a fan," Gates comments trying to keep a straight face.

Confused Castle asks, "A fan, sir?"

"I was contacted by the FBI's Behavioural Analysis Unit, seems like they want to have a look at your unconventional partnership and figure out why is it so successful."

Now even more confused Beckett asks, "We are flattered sir?"

"Oh, don't be, apparently they are sending a agent here who is gonna observe you for a indefinite time period," Gates finishes just as there is a knock at a door and a woman in her mid 30s enters the room. Standing Gates introduces the new member to the Homicide team, "Detective Beckett, Mr. Castle meet Agent Natasha Romanoff from FBI's Behavioural Analysis Unit." Gesturing towards the woman whose smile grows as she notices the annoyed looks on both partner's faces.

'Yep,' she thinks, 'This is gonna be fun.'

-X-

 **AN: For those of you who need a mental picture of Natasha, just google her, and before anyone comments, No this is not a superhero fic, I just borrowed the name. Thanks for staying with the story and I really appreciate your reviews.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer:The show Castle and its characters are the property of Andrew Marlowe and ABC**

 **Chapter 5**

She wasn't worried.

She wasn't worried at all. She didn't mind that a drop dead gorgeous woman is gonna be following them around. She didn't mind that half the precinct had come up to the fourth floor to check out and meet the beautiful new comer. She didn't mind at all that the said new comer had Esposito wrapped around her finger after 10 minutes and even Ryan wasn't saved from her charm. And she didn't mind at all that her partner was giving the new comer side way glances ever since she had arrived. Nope, she didn't mind at all. Letting out a frustrated sigh, she puts down her pen and looks up in time to see another Officer from Vice (Officer Hopkins?) shake Agent Romanoff's hand and giving her a wink, 'really she is old enough to be your daughter,' she thinks bitterly. She turns her head to see Castle looking at her too but not with the intrigued and curious gaze he usually possesses like when he looked at Serena Kaye or Jordan Shaw in the beginning. No his face shows equal level of annoyance as her, maybe more. She is brought out of her musings as Esposito comes over carrying a photograph.

"Well, Naomi did make it to that album release party last night at a club in Midtown, but she was kicked out by security around ten o'clock after she had an altercation with the host, female rapper and ex-felon Nicky Jay," he finishes, sticking a photo of said rapper on the murder board as he adds, "And she wasn't afraid to take a swing in front of paparazzi."

"What was the fight about?" Castle asks.

"Unclear, but uniforms are bringing her up to interrogation now," Espo finishes just Castle's cell buzzes and he excuses himself.

"Do you usually question them solo?" Hunt asks from beside her.

"No, Castle and I usually go in together," only to be interrupted by Castle who is holding a hand over his phone, "Actually, you guys can take this one. I am summoned at Black Pawn for a meeting."

"Are you sure?" Beckett asks feeling a little hurt.

"Yeah, absolutely. Besides, Hunt's got a personal interest. So he really should be the one to be in there," he finishes giving her a reassuring smile which tamps down Beckett's worries by a fraction.

"Ah. All right. It's settled then," Hunt comments smiling at her.

"Yeah, I guess it is," Beckett says as her eyes follow her partner's retreating back.

When she turns to head over towards the interrogation room she can't help but notice the absence of her new Agent shadow.

-X-

Walking down the sidewalk outside the precinct, he slows his gait, allowing her to catch up to him. When he feels her presence by his side he half turns to give her a glare as he asks, "BAU, really? You couldn't have come up with a better cover?" Getting only a playful shrug and smirk in return as he continues, "And 'Romanoff', really? What? Are you trying out at a Black Widow cosplay or something?"

She huffs and gives him a suggestive look, "Please, I'm too hot to play Black Widow, which if you don't remember, I can easily give you a refresher course," she finishes with a suggestive eyebrow waggle.

"Nat," he answers in a stern voice.

"I know, I know, off limits topic. But in all seriousness I think this cover allows me to be around you guys more freely. And about getting in and out of your loft, maybe you could show some romantic interest in me and we can suggest to everyone that we are dating?" She finishes hoping to keep her tone neutral.

Pondering upon it for a few moments, Castle answers, "I agree with your BAU logic, but let me think about the romantic interest a bit, if you're sure, seeing the reason our partnership ended," giving her a knowing look as he finishes.

'Dammit,'she thought, she was hoping that he wouldn't go there. Trying to quash his worries she answers in a flat tone, "Rogers, you don't have to worry, that was over a decade ago. Things change, people change."

Castle watches her for couple of seconds and then offers her a nod and turns to start making his way towards his publisher's office. She sighs as she watches him disappear in the crowd, wishing her last statement could have been true.

-X-

As Hunt excuses himself to take a call after listening to Lanie's report. Lanie looks at Beckett with a mischievous look.

"Easy on the eyes. Cute accent too. I just got one question. Where's Castle?" Lanie asks.

"He had a meeting at Black Pawn, so he had to leave."

"Not off to lunch with the new hot shot FBI Agent?"

"Wha- No! No, Castle won't do that." Beckett exclaimed.

"OH! So Castle can't go out on a date with another woman, since you haven't shown any interest in going out with him and he has finally stopped waiting for you?" Lanie asks, just to see till where she can push the Detective's buttons.

"No, its not like that. Its just he seemed equally annoyed with the news of her shadowing us. So I think he won't be interested in her." Beckett finishes in a nervous tone.

"Like you used to be annoyed when Castle started following you? Tell me how did that turn out for you?" Lanie asks rhetorically but she wishes she didn't seeing as her friend has reached the limit. Before she explodes, Lanie puts her hand up, "Look girl, time is a funny thing, you don't realise how much you have wasted until its gone." Pointing towards the refrigerated storage wall she continues, "Ten years, I've been keeping them company…while they spend a night or two here on their way to where we're all going. They all had plans, Kate, things they were gonna do when they got around to it—go on a cruise, lose ten pounds, fall in love. They thought they had all the time in the world. But nobody does." With that she turns to attend to her paperwork.

Sighing Beckett steps out the autopsy to find Hunt leaning against the wall, staring down at his phone.

"The personal ones are tough. No call." Beckett comments getting his attention.

"What's my tell?"

"The brooding lean," she comments leaning on the wall herself.

"Ah, yes. Rookie move. You know, even with a mouth full of braces, she was the prettiest girl in her class. Although having a cop for a dad didn't do much for her social life. Terry used to interrogate her dates when they'd drop her off."

"I could see how that would weed out the light weights."

"And then when she was 22, she fell in love with a young doctor, good guy. He died last year in Africa doing God's work. I don't think she ever really got over it, because hearing what she was up to, it's like she was a different person."

"People change when you're not looking," Beckett comments thinking about her own situation. She is broken out of her thoughts by the ringing of her cell phone.

"Excuse me. Hey, Ryan. What's up? Are you sure? Where? Okay, great. Call in a warrant," turning towards him after hanging up her phone "They found a gym near the motel. Naomi bought a day pass there the night that she was killed, and the clerk said she was in and out in three minutes. Ryan went to check it out and found a photograph with a sequence written on the back. They are running both of them right now."

-X-

When Beckett enters the conference room, she finds Castle standing at the corner listening to Ryan as he briefs him about the developments of the case. She turns to Tech analyst for anything on the sequence only to get a negative response. When she turns Hunt and Castle are focusing on the blown up image of the suspect.

"It's the British seal. This picture was taken right outside the British consulate," Hunt states.

"Pull up a list of the consulate employees," Beckett orders the Tech.

They scroll through the list till they land on the man in the picture.

"Nigel Wyndham, Deputy General of the British Consulate."

"Which means he's just under the Consulate General in rank, so he's responsible for the daily operations in financial and logistical matter," Hunt finishes.

"Wait does that mean, he handles stuff like signing off for diplomatic pouches and such?" Castle asks as he hurriedly takes out his phone and starts searching.

"Yeah, as a Deputy General, it would be one of his responsibilities," Hunt says sharing a look with Beckett.

"Castle do you have a idea what the sequence is?" Beckett asks.

"Yeah, its a code for a Diplomatic pouch, I know read about it when I was researching for a Nikky Heat plotline" he states looking at them for a brief moment, then turning back to his phone, "The first code 'W4' refers to the size of the pouch, the '1949' represents exactly which pouch it is in the consulate sequence and the last three digits reference code to the airline which in this case is the Royal Eastern Airlines, and as the Deputy General, Nigel signs for all the pouches."

"So then maybe this wasn't about an affair gone wrong between Nigel and Naomi." Beckett states, picking up where Castle left.

"It's about smuggling, since it makes a lot of sense. Diplomatic pouches are sealed and their contents bypass TSA and customs inspections." Castle continues.

"Naomi must have got on to what Wyndham was doing somehow. We need to know what was in that pouch."

"The consulate's never gonna release that information," Esposito points out.

"We don't need to worry about the consulate. The airline keeps a copy of the waybill."

After Beckett instructs the boys to get a copy of the waybill, she turns to find Castle gone from the conference room, briefly panicking she relaxes once spots him in the break room, making coffee. Seeing that everyone is busy, she heads towards her partner. She waits a little while after entering the break room and observes him for a moment. Seeing his broad shoulders at work as he messes about with the elaborate machine.

"Staring's creepy, Beckett," Castle comments without even looking at her but his voice clearly indicating his smirk.

Wondering if he has eyes in the back of his head she comments, "Well, turnabout is fair, Castle," shrugging her shoulders even though he is not looking at her. "You might have just broken this case wide open Castle. Thanks," she says as he hands her a coffee. Shrugging he jsut says, "It's what we do." Smiling he makes his way out of the break room. Sighing she looks down her cup to see a smile face looking right back at her. She couldn't stop the smile blossom her face even if she tried, 'Yeah, he's coming back.'

-X-

After finally figuring out the conspiracy to ship missiles to Uganda and arresting Biggie Slim and Nigel for Naomi's murder. Beckett finds herself sitting at her desk doing paperwork. She spots Hunt walking towards her and lifts her head to see him looking at Naomi's picture.

"Her dad would've been proud. How brave she was, taking on these men. But I so wish hadn't done it," Hunt comments looking over at her.

"So what happens now? Do you go back to D.C.?" Beckett asks.

"London, I'm afraid. Face the music."

"You know, they should give you a commendation."

He chuckles, "Well, that is wildly improbable." He looks at her, giving her a small smile and asks, "You know, my flight isn't till tomorrow morning, Kate. Could I persuade you to let me buy you a drink?"

Beckett hesitates and her gaze flits to her partner's chair, who had just left for a dinner date with her daughter. Hunt follows her gaze and takes out his card and places it on her desk. "Well if you change your mind, call me." With that he turns and starts walking towards the elevator. Beckett eyes follow him as he leaves.

"Cute guy," Romanoff comments while sitting on Castle's chair getting Beckett's attention.

"OH. Yeah and I'm sorry Agent Romanoff for ignoring you all day," but before she could speak more Romanoff cuts her off with a wave of her hands.

"No, no, I'm her to accompany and observe, not participate and annoy."

Beckett chuckles and looks down at the card. After a second she picks it up and hands it to a surprised Romanoff, "Here, you can have it. I have my eyes set on someone else." With that she gets up picking up her coat and walks off to the elevator.

Natasha looks at the card for a moment and then crumples it and throws it in the dust bin. 'No,' she thinks 'I have a date with someone else tonight.'

-X-

 **AN: Sorry for the delay. I have cut short the limey episode a bit since I couldn't find a way to incorporate the Consulate party. Thanks for staying with this story and I really appreciate your reviews.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer:The show Castle and its characters are the property of Andrew Marlowe and ABC**

 **AN: Warning Mature content ahead.**

 **Chapter 6**

He felt fuzzy.

His body felt numb. As he tried to move his hands, he found they wouldn't move and not just because his body felt numb but there was something binding them. As he forced open his eyes, he found his hands zip tied to the chair's armrest. Not only that but his legs were tied up too. Forcing his mind to stay calm, he recalled his training and started looking around the room, but that posed a problem because he couldn't see anything beyond darkness. All of a sudden a bulb right above his head, switched ON and he was blinded by its light for a second. As his eyes adjusted to the brightness, he looked around trying to get a scope of the place. But he soon finds that the overhead bulb only illuminates a tight circular area around him and he still can't see anything beyond. As he once again tries to move his legs, he sees a set of wires coming from behind him and going through the bottom of his trousers, up his legs.

"They are connected to your prized possession, if you know what I mean," a voice echoes from somewhere around the room.

He shudders inwardly, thinking about the implications of his captor's statement, but he keeps quiet and puts on a hard mask on his face to keep any and all emotion off his face. He keeps looking around the room, big room he notes considering the echo of the voice. He tried to figure out where he could possibly be held captive. He pays no heed as his captor speaks again, "You have been a bad boy lately. Making the wrong people angry," with that he is surrounded by darkness as the bulb turns OFF and at the next moment he feels his index finger being pulled and a searing pain shoot through his right arm. His scream echoes through the room and he watches in horror as the bulb turns back ON, blood coming from the empty space on his arm where his index finger should have been and the said finger lying on the ground still twitching. A louder scream emanates from his mouth as an aftershock of pain shoots through his body, pushing another set of tears through his eyes.

"You see, you used that same exact finger to press the trigger to shoot a person really close to a friend of mine. You signed your death warrant, the moment you pulled that trigger," he hears as his captor appears in the light and Maddox freezes as he recognises the face, "Not just a blonde bimbo now am I," Natasha finishes as she keeps circling him.

"You see Sergeant Marks, I sympathise with you, after all you were just doing a job that you were hired for, like a professional. But you knew from the start what kind of risks this line of occupation comes with. And you made the wrong people angry when you targeted Kate. Now you see, the person who hired you is gonna pay for what he did, and we are gonna find out who he is whether you help us or not," she says not telling him that she already knows he doesn't have a clue who hired him and continues, " But First thing we need right now from you is to know what you have found regarding the mysterious file's location." When he doesn't indicate to say anything, she presses a button on the remote she is holding and a shock passes through his body for a second causing another round of pain and screaming. "You see I kind want to avoid the whole cutting the finger or pulling your teeth out business cause that's quite messy and I don't want to ruin this dress. I like this dress," she states smoothing a hand over the red cocktail dress that she is wearing. "Now do I have your attention or not. Cause all I have to do is keep my finger pressed for a couple seconds longer, you will wet your pants. A couple seconds more, your muscles will start twitching and you will lose voluntary control over them. A couple seconds more, you will have difficulty breathing. And finally blood will start clotting inside your heart and you will suffer cardiac arrest thus leading to a painful and extended death because I will keep bringing you back from the brink of death every time you would beg me to give you that sweet release,' she finishes with her face just inches away from his. Maddox nods fear marking his body as he sees the coldness in the woman's eyes.

Natasha straightens and resumes her walk around him. "So, what do you know about the file's location," she asks. Maddox hesitates for a second glancing at his crotch and starts speaking, "I have figured it out that the file is with a old friend of Montgomery, I have hired a kid, Orlando Costas to steal his wedding album to figure out this friend. My employer believes that he is possibly a lawyer that Montgomery befriended back then."

"See wasn't that easy. Now next question, Who hired you for this job?"

"I have no clue. I was contacted by one of my contacts to eliminate a police officer. I was told the job was time sensitive and was paid $100,000 upfront. I took the job and shot her at the funeral, thinking that was it but I was contacted a month later through a secure number telling me that she survived and since I already took payment my job was to observe her 24/7 and report her movements to him. I was promised additional pay for my service and got monthly deposits in my Caymans account for my expenditure."

"This contact of yours, what's his name?"

When he doesn't answer immediately, Natasha presses the remote sending a new wave of shock through his body. Glaring at him she barks, "What is the contact's name?"

"Sergeant Major Raymond Williams. He runs a private security company by the name of Merryweather." Maddox answers through clenched teeth as he rides the pain.

"Now to our last question, tell me all the places you have bugged in the name of Kate Beckett's surveillance."

"I have placed three bugs in her apartment, two in her hall and one in her bedroom. There are two bugs at her work desk, one in her landline and other in the Russian doll on her desk. I tried to put one in the writer's loft but his security is surprisingly good," Maddox finished.

Natasha stopped circling at that and asked as her voice grew substantially colder," Why did you need to bug Richard Castle's loft?"

"I figured if she tried to investigate again, torturing her wouldn't do much good seeing she is quite tough. The best way to force her hand was to target him or maybe his daughter," but before he could finish Natasha had taken his left hand and snapped off his left index finger and just stood there watching Maddox scream. "That's for underestimating Rogers and this for even thinking about his daughter," she finished and pressed the button on her remote sending a substantial amount of shock through his body and watched as he promptly peed his pants. She walked away from him as he was recovering from the pain due to the shock and came back carrying a pound of C4 with a timer showing 5 minutes attached to it. She tosses it onto his lap and speaks, "Now I promised you a quick death but did you really think I would do something as simple as shooting you in the head." With that she turns and starts walking towards the door to her waiting transport as Maddox watches the timer tick down towards his death.

5 minutes later she watches as the side of the fishing boat explodes and it starts sinking in the ocean where the body of Sergeant Marks would decompose and never be found. She takes out her cellphone opening the contact she needs and types, _'Fish fodder has been served.'_

The reply comes immediately, _'Duke and Duchess?'_

 _'Duchess's chambers would need some cleaning and Duke is having dinner with his princess.'_

 _'And the Dragon?'_

 _'Would soon be slayed.'_

 _'Good. Keep me posted.'_

With that she puts her phone back and turns her dinghy towards the city.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer:The show Castle and its characters are the property of Andrew Marlowe and ABC**

 **Chapter 7**

She was nervous.

She was extremely nervous. And if she didn't stop soon she would start biting the skin on her thumb as well. With a huff she places her hand by her side and wills herself not to bite her nails again, but the urge is great. Before she could succumb to the growing urge, the elevator pings announcing its arrival to the fifth floor as she disembarks and starts her journey towards the lone red door. She is ready to burst with nerves as she waits for the door to open after she knocks. Maybe just a little bite of her nail would help, after all she did leave it uneven but before she could stuck her nail between her teeth the door opens and a fine example of human specimen with blue eyes and flowing red hair stands in front of her with a grateful smile on her face.

"Kate, you came. Come on in. Here let me have your coat," Alexis rambles on as she ushers her in.

She can't help but feel grateful in finding an ally in Alexis for her quest to get Castle back.

 _"I can't get through him Lanie, I'm trying but he is totally closed off. Any interaction we have is strictly professional and if I try to talk to him about anything personal its zip, Nada, nothing," Beckett rants as she paces in the autopsy room._

 _"Well girl all I can tell you to do is keep trying. I mean that guy chased you for 4 years. I guess its your turn to do some chasing. And maybe try to voice out how you really feel about writer boy a little more," Lanie comments trying to cheer Beckett up._

 _"So, what? You want me to shout how I feel about him. Then fine. I love him. I. Love. Him. I'm in love with Richard Castle and when it seems I have finally stopped denying our chemistry it turns out I was already too late and might have succeeded in finally pushing him away with my goddamn fuc-," but her ramblings are interrupted as a voice speaks from the doorway of the autopsy room._

 _"You love my Dad?" A wide eyed Alexis asks, as she holds a set of reports in her hands._

 _"Whats that, Yeah, someone's calling me, I will talk to you later Kate," Lanie says as she backtracks through the other door leaving Beckett to deal with Little Castle all by herself._

 _Cursing Lanie for getting her in this predicament and leaving her alone to deal with it. Beckett turns to address the teen, wracking her brain to say something. But what do you say to a girl who has just heard you shouting your feelings about her dad. But the awkward silence is broken by Alexis who simply repeats her question, "You love my Dad?"_

 _Sighing, Beckett just nods her head and prepares herself for whatever reaction the teen would have but she is surprised as Alexis swiftly moves across the room and hugs her fiercely. In her dazed state all she can do is wrap her hands around the teen who is now softly sobbing on her shoulder mumbling something incoherent. But as she strains her ears she hears, what Alexis has been saying, "Bring him back Kate. Only you can bring him back. He's changed."_

 _"Changed sweetie?" The term of endearment flowing so naturally out of her mouth that it shocks Beckett and Alexis for a moment. But Alexis recovers first seeming to accept it as she speaks, "Yeah, He tries to put up a good front. But Grams and I can clearly see through that. He's more serious, more quieter. He spends the day at the precinct and then comes back and holes himself up in his study and only comes out to cook dinner and eat. He is getting more angry."_

 _Getting more concerned with this new insight Beckett asked, "Did he get angry at you Alexis or shout."_

 _Shaking her head Alexis explains, "He didn't shout or anything and it only happened once. Dad had holed himself in his study for a whole day, which is normal because he does that when he gets a bout of inspiration. But when he came out he didn't have the satisfied look he usually has after finishing writing. No, his face was grim and he just stalked to the refrigerator and had a drink of water. At that point Grams suggested him to go out for a while and have a nice time but he just said he wasn't in the mood. When Grams persisted he just said Mother in a tone I had never heard before from him and it scared me. Grams just followed him to his office and found that he wasn't writing but instead working on your case instead," Alexis rambled not realising she had just revealed a huge secret._

 _"My case?" Beckett asked breaking Alexis's ramblings. She watches as the teens eye widened and she ducked her head shamefully. Beckett let go of her shoulders and asked again not noticing that her voice had gotten substantially colder, "Alexis, has he been working on my case behind my back?" She watches as Alexis lifts up her head and gives her a minuscule nod of her head._

 _Alexis seeing that the Detective was ready to burst came to her father's rescue, "He didn't tell me anything either. I overheard him and Grams talking one night. He had got a call from somebody saying he was a friend of Captain Montgomery. He said he had a file which contained damaging evidence against the person who ordered your shooting and he had a struck a deal with him to leave you alone in exchange that you didn't touch your Mom's case and Dad's job was to keep you away from investigating it. He said the person behind all this is very powerful and if you resumed your investigation, he would come after not only you but after everyone close to you including me."_

 _With that all the anger that was building inside her simply vanished as she finally realised the stakes involved in her crusade. She finally realised the burden her partner has been living in for the past year, lying to the woman he loves, knowing that when the truth will come out she would react badly. Lying not only to keep her safe but everyone close to him and her including his little girl. Putting himself in danger because he knew she would regret never finding the person involved behind her mother's murder. With that something stirred inside Beckett as she looked Alexis squarely in the eyes as said, "I'm angry Alexis, but not because he lied to me but because he put himself in danger just to protect me. I promise you Alexis I will bring you your father back. No matter how much he pushes me." And she watched as Alexis smiled again with eyes full of tears and hugs her again fiercely._

She is brought out of her thoughts as Alexis taps on her shoulder and points towards the kitchen and starts walking calling out on the way, "Dad I brought you a present."

"Yeah, what is i-" he stops as he spots her standing nervously in the foyer with a bakery box in one hand. "Beckett! I ah," he fumbles clearly surprised by her presence. Kate saves him from further fumbling and says, "Your daughter invited me for pasta night. I hope its alright with you and I brought cheesecake," lifting up the bakery box.

"Yeah, yeah, its fine. But I thought you were going out with Detective Inspector Hunt tonight," he speaks as he makes his way back to the cupboards to take out a glass of wine as starts to put his walls back up.

'Show him how you feel' Lanie's advice rings in her mind as she takes a seat on the bar stool placing the cheesecake on the kitchen island and takes the glass of wine he hands her, "No, what made you think that. Do I detect some jealousy Castle," she teased him.

Castle is thrown off by her answer and like on autopilot retorts, "Me, jealous of Hunt, please," but catching himself from further bantering continues,"You two just seemed to hit it off."

"Nah, he isn't what I'm looking for," Kate says giving him a meaningful look.

Castle is thrown again by this blunt Kate. He expected her to deflect and maybe chide him for delving in her personal life. But this Kate is clearly quite blunt and he doesn't know how to deal with blunt Kate. He is literally saved by the bell as the oven timer chimes. He distracts himself with taking out the finished garlic bread and meddles with the sauce as Kate offers to set the dishes. He is again taken aback by her familiarity around his kitchen. Even though her stay after her apartment exploded was quite brief, she seems to remember every detail of his kitchen like she lives there. Shaking his head, he takes the prepared sauce to the dining table where Kate has already served up the spaghetti and garlic bread leaving only the sauce to be poured.

As Kate takes her first bite she can't stop a moan escaping from her mouth over Castle's delicious sauce. She had forgotten how good cook Castle was. As she turns towards him to compliment him for his sauce, she notices him watching her with his fork hung in mid air with a look full of desire. She blushes as she remembers him looking at her similarly when she moaned during their undercover kiss. She breaks him out of his daze, "Castle this is amazing. I forgot how good your sauce was." With that she turned back to her food as Castle just smiled.

Castle was confused beyond belief at what was happening. That moan from Beckett had nearly undone him and he briefly lost himself in his dreams where she moaned for entirely different reasons. Shaking his head he focused on what Alexis's story of her final days of high school. He feels bad, for ignoring her lately as he has been busy working on Beckett's case. He promises that he will try to be a better Dad after all these are the last few days before her baby bird flies away from her nest. But all thoughts seem to stop when he feels a feet graze up his calf. He looks up towards Beckett but finds her eating a piece of garlic bread as she nods along with Alexis's unending college questions. He shakes his head and puts it off as a accidental brush. But 5 minutes later he feels it again and this time when he looks up he finds Beckett looking at him and he watches fascinated as she blushes and ducks her head. He is at a complete loss of words and can just watch as she gives him a shy smile. Dinner and dessert passes quickly after that but not without another couple of the 'accidental brushes.'

Afterwards Alexis quickly starts taking up the dishes ignoring her Father's protest and takes them to the sink for cleaning leaving Castle and Beckett alone in the dining hall. They are surrounded by silence as none of them know what to say. Castle still reeling from the accidental brushes during dinner, six of them in total but who's counting. Beckett thinking whether she should take her leave or stay a little longer. Finally she speaks, "I should get going, its getting late," as she stands up and bids farewell to Alexis who is busy washing dishes. Castle follows her to the gate and opens it after he helps her into her coat. She turns to face him, "Thanks for dinner tonight Castle, I had a great time."

"Anytime, Kate," Castle says back, unable to stop himself.

Feeling confident by hearing her first name from her partner, Beckett leans in to kiss his cheek and catches the corner of his mouth lingering there for a second after which she pulls back graces him with a smile which he would state in the future was the second most beautiful smile she ever gave him and said, "Until tomorrow Castle." And starts walking towards the elevator.

Castle closed the door in a daze over what happened just a few seconds before and leaned his head over the wooden surface, willing his heart not to burst out of his chest while his brain was constantly shouting, 'What the fuck is going on?'


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer:The show Castle and its characters are the property of Andrew Marlowe and ABC**

 **AN: So sorry for the late update but I was out of town for a while and had forgotten my laptop at home. Also the updates would now be weekly rather than daily since my internship has started from this month. Thank you again for your positive reviews and for staying with this story. Enjoy.**

 **Chapter 8**

She was jealous.

Yes complete green monster Jealous. And how could she not be, when the man that she had openly admitted she loved(even though not to him) was lying on top of a drop dead gorgeous woman, with their legs tangled and breathing on each other's faces. Yes, she was most definitely jealous.

 _Earlier that morning_

Castle walked the final steps to the 12th precinct carrying the two cups of coffee. He didn't have an idea why he had bought them but he just did. He was feeling a new sensation in his body(which was most definitely not hope) ever since Ka-Beckett dropped by for dinner two days ago. Thinking about that dinner still makes his heart beat faster and his mind confused. But that weird feeling had started since then and had just grown since her _'Good morning, sleepyhead. Having coffee?'_ text that next morning which had him doing a double take if she was right there since he had just lifted his mug and completely missed his devil daughter's attempt to not laugh while texting a certain Detective.

He stepped out as the elevator's door opened to the Homicide floor and started making his way over to Beckett's empty desk. He saw stacks of paperwork piled in the adjoining conference room and remembered her text something about trial prep. He sat down on his chair and waited for his partner to show up. His gaze turned towards a group of men standing near the breakroom door as he hears them laughing about something. He immediately recognises one of the four men, Demming. He watches as one of the men slaps Demming on the back probably praising him for his joke. He spots Beckett approaching from the corner directing a uniform. From the corner of his eyes he notices the group going silent and hushed whispers between Demming and the man as his gaze leers over his partner's body. He clenches his fists as a wave of something passes over him(which is definitely not jealousy).

He unclenches his hand as Beckett approaches him, "Hey! Castle, what are you doing here?"

"I just haven't seen you in a few days, thought I'd drop by, see how you're doing," Castle replies with a smile while handing Beckett her coffee.

Beckett can't help but let a big smile grace her face as she takes the coffee from his hands making sure to linger her fingers around his for a moment, "Thank you, that's so sweet. Um, I'm great, actually. The trial prep is going really well, I've been getting home at a decent hour, and...it's great to see you."

"It's good to see you, too. I actually needed to ask you something?" Castle asked.

"Shoot."

"Well my personal gym at the loft basement is flooded due to a pipe burst, so I was hoping if I could make use of the Precinct's facilities," Castle finishes looking sheepish.

Beckett can't stop herself from laughing at his sheepish expression and says, "That's it? Castle of course you can use the precinct gym. You have been my partner close to 4 years now. You are basically one of us, You don't need my permission."

"I don't think Gates would agree on that," Castle says with a self depreciating shrug.

"Yeah well, Gates can put her issues right up her-" but Castle interrupts her before she finishes with a fake gasp and wide eyed look, "Oh my god, Detective Beckett, I had no idea you had such a foul mouth, It's kinda hot," he finishes with a eyebrow waggle which he thinks is appropriate, after all its just casual flirting. It's nothing more right?

But before he could dwell more Beckett comments out of nowhere, "What Castle, you like your girls to swear," in a husky voice while leaning closer and all coherent thoughts are wiped out of Castle's mind as he can only think about Beckett twisting and turning and swearing at him for more. He fails to notice Beckett's deep blush over her bold comment and also the hidden implication of it that Beckett thinks she is his girl. Their moment is interrupted as Ryan walks up to them saying 'Castle!' as he spots the author and Beckett stops herself from groaning loudly and shooting Ryan for all the times he has interrupted them. She excuses herself as the guys fist bump and goes to the conference room.

Castle listens as Ryan relays his plans for taking Jenny to a vacation for the upcoming weekend. Castle smiles seeing one of his closest friend so happy and enjoying married life. His attention is broken with a loud laughter from the group of Detectives who are now moving towards the elevator. "Who's the rowdy one man army with Demming," Castle asked pointing towards the retreating group.

"That's Detective Ethan Slaughter from Gangs. All brawn no brain type cop. He and Demming graduated from the academy together and are apparently working together on the severed head case, and they brought a suspect for questioning earlier like they owned the place since Gates isn't here today but you should have seen the dressing down Beckett gave Demming in the break room while Slaughter was in interrogation. When she came out, I swear her gaze could have melted ice," Ryan rambled as Castle fought a smile coming on his face.

"Well anyway, I should be going, you have a trial to prepare for," Castle said and started getting up from his chair as Ryan said, "Oh before I forget, Agent Romanoff was asking for you, she is interviewing our team and only you are left."

"Send her to the gym, I'll be there," Castle said as he walked towards the stairs and fails to notice Ryan stop in his track and giving him a look before pulling out his phone with a smirk.

-X-

"48...49...50," Castle grunted as he finished his third set of push-ups and got up shaking his hands and hopping to keep his body temperature up. The gym had been empty save for Detective Karpowski who was doing her 2nd set of crunches in the corner, so he had kept his form fitting Captain America T-shirt on along with jogger shorts. He didn't want to answer any difficult questions about his bullet wounds, one on his shoulder and another one a graze on right side of his abdomen. Castle had just started his pull ups when he heard a set of distinctive click of heels heading his way. He continued on his exercise as Natasha sat beside him on a work out bench. He looked at her and cocked his eyebrow when she didn't say anything for a few moments. He finished his set and hopped down picking up his glucose bottle and said,"Mission report."

"Your funeral friend wasn't much help but he did direct me to a good lawyer," she said handing him a folded piece of paper which he tucked in his shorts pocket. "He did tell me that there is a bug problem going on these days and proper cleaning might be needed. Don't worry your house is safe and the rest will be taken care of," she finished with a smile.

She spoke as he opened his mouth, anticipating his question, "I haven't met Mr. Simmons yet, he has been quite busy, but I did get invited to his next soiree."

Before Castle could speak further the gym door opened loudly as Slaughter and Demming came into the gym both in workout clothes and Slaughter boasting about getting a quick confession. Slaughter's eyes quickly fell on Natasha and then on Castle. He had heard enough about the 12th precinct Shakespeare from Demming. He did seem to have a way with the ladies he thought as he eyed Natasha and spoke loudly, "Why don't you come here sweetheart and I will show you how real men workout."

Natasha slowly turned and glanced at Slaughter and Demming both adorning creepy grins and openly checking her out. She turned back to Castle who was trying not to laugh, not at Natasha but at poor Slaughter who had no idea that he had just poked the beast as Natahsa hissed, "Did he just call me Sweetheart?"

Castle nodded once with a smirk on his face and replied, "Yes. Yes he did."

Natasha turned back to him with a sweet smile and walked towards both men with an extra sway to her hips as Castle noticed Ryan and Esposito quietly entering the gym. He shook his head and thought, 'of course it wasn't a coincidence,' and looked at Natasha taking her blazer off leaving her in a white blouse and black dress pants as she faced off Slaughter whose smile hadn't moved an inch. He took a step towards her and asked, "You ever done this before?"

Natasha smiled and answered, "I have, yes."

"Like Tae Bo, booty boot camp, crunch, something like that?" Slaughter joked pulling a laugh out of Demming.

Natasha looked back towards Castle and the boys who were watching the exchange when she heard, "Rule number one sweetheart: Never take your eye off your opponent," just as she felt a punch coming her way and like on autopilot she grabbed Slaughters wrist and twisted it as she swung herself into a inverted position, locking her legs around Slaughter's neck and pulling him down with a grunt as Slaughter landed on his back with Natasha's legs still in a head lock. Slaughter tapped on the mats and she released him after which stood up adjusting her blouse like nothing happened. She glanced at the audience, watching the slack jawed expression of the Detectives and a proud smirk on Castle's face. She looked back at Slaughter who was getting up rubbing his neck and spoke, "Anyone else want to teach me a lesson?"

Castle watched as Demming took a involuntary step back and Ryan shook his head No. He decided to have some fun and spoke, "I would like to try," getting 'are-you-crazy-look' from everyone except her as he started walking towards the sparring mats. "This is gonna be good," Esposito commented and took his phone out opening up the precinct's messaging forum as he typed out a message, _'Resident author vs Agent Hottie in precinct gym, RIGHT NOW'_ and sent it.

-X-

Beckett had just finished her meeting with the ADA and was battling with Castle's coffee machine when she noticed a commotion out in the bullpen. Discarding the milk jug she followed a couple of uniforms to the gym where she found about a quarter of the precinct standing around the sparring mats. As she weaved through the crowd, she saw Esposito recording with his phone and Ryan collecting bets from everyone but what made her stop was the spectacle on the sparring mats. Castle in a sweaty T-shirt, Castle in a sweaty T-shirt blocking a upper cut, Castle in a sweaty T-shirt blocking a upper cut from Agent Romanoff. She couldn't comprehend the scene before her and just watched as Castle and Natasha danced on the mats, Natasha giving out blows and Castle blocking them effectively every time. She observed the two of them as they formed this intricate dance and noted again how at ease they both were with each other. Their moves spoke of familiarity, which didn't help the growing green monster inside at all. She watched as Natasha pulled a move resulting in Castle falling on his back, his hands pinned above his head and Natasha straddling him with a satisfied smirk on her face but before she could blink Castle had flipped her and trapped her legs and arms between them as he lied above her only a few inches between them. The temperature increased inside the gym as Beckett watched them clenching her hands into a fist as the green monster was ready to show its presence.

A wolf whistle broke her daze and she spoke loudly, "Alright, show's over, back to work people," Making use of her seniority status in the precinct. She heard a few groans and watched as the crowd dissipated and a smug Ryan counting a bundle of 10 dollar bills taunting Esposito who was still looking at Castle like he was an alien. She glanced back at the mats and watched as Castle shook Natasha's hand with a smile and started walking towards her.

"Had a good workout," she asked in a harsh tone, her eyes still following the FBI agent.

Castle couldn't help but smile at a jealous Beckett and decided to push her buttons a little more, "Yeah, I hadn't had a work out like that in a looong while," finishing his sentence in a sinful voice and started walking towards the showers.

Beckett's mind was working on overdrive. She needed to do something and something fast. No hot FBI agent is gonna take Castle from her. With that she turned and started walking towards the showers to show Castle that he belonged to her.


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer:The show Castle and its characters are the property of Andrew Marlowe and ABC**

 **AN: WARNING. This chapter contains MA content. So if it's not your cup of tea, skip it. Also this is my first time writing a MA scene please be gentle.**

 **Chapter 9**

Closing off the shower curtain, Castle stepped in the stall switching on the shower and letting the hot water sooth his tired and achy muscles. He let the water wash of the sweat that had clung on him during his workout and enjoyed the increased flow of blood in his veins as it helped in livening up his muscles. He just stood there under the shower while facing the grey tilled wall and didn't pay attention to the opening of the shower room, nor did he pay attention to the steady click of familiar heels, but he noticed when someone yanked the curtain open.

"What the-," Castle said but the words died down on his lips as he saw what or exactly who had interrupted him. Kate Beckett, an angry Kate Beckett, an angry and aroused Kate Beckett. Before he could say anything Beckett shoved him against the wall and stepped inside the stall ignoring the still running shower and kissed him ferociously all the while muttering something in his mouth.

Castle couldn't do anything but pull her closer and kiss her back. He nearly embarrassed himself when Beckett rubbed her pelvis against his hardening length. All of a sudden Beckett released his mouth and he couldn't help but be transfixed with the sight in front of him. He watched in a daze as the water hit her face and flowed around her sharp cheekbones before touching her swollen lips and finally dripping from her chin to her heaving chest which was pressed up to his with just her wet blouse acting as a barrier. He looked up and noticed her smoky eyes that carried a familiar fire. A fire which blazed whenever she hunted for her prey while solving cases. He gulped when he released that today he was the prey that she was hunting.

"You're mine," Beckett declared before attacking his lips again slowly tailing her hands all over his back.

"You're mine," Beckett declared before she cupped his behind and attacked his neck marking him.

"You're mine," Beckett declared as she trailed her hand to his front and grabbing his hardened length and squeezing it tightly pulling a gasp out of him.

"Say it," She ordered as she knelt down in front of him and giving his length a few pumps and squeezing it again. "Say it Castle," she demanded staring him in his darkened eyes which hadn't left hers since the kiss.

"Yours," Castle growled, "I'm yours," groaning loudly as Beckett took him into her mouth in one smooth movement. Her lips firmly around his length, she worked him with her tongue as she drew him in, maintaining eye contact all the way as her nose brushed his stomach. Swallowing automatically, she held his length in her mouth, filling her for several seconds, her moan of pleasure vibrating through him as her other hand caressed his balls. Seeing his eyes roll back and feeling his legs trembling, Beckett slowly drew back, her lips wrapped firmly around him.

She pushed on his chest, forcing his back against the wall, allowing her a little more room to manoeuvre. Her mouth still wrapped around him, she worked his length with one hand, squeezing and twisting as her head dipped back and forth, teeth grazing him lightly, her tongue flickering over the tip at the apex of every up, she reached around him and cupped his ass as she worked her mouth over him. Her lips firm, she drew him out before plunging him full-length inside her, over and over. Hearing Castle's breadth shorten, she knew he was close. Tasting his saltiness, she thrust him deep inside her mouth once more sending him over the edge with a loud 'Kaaatteee!'

Feeling him spasm inside her mouth, Kate held him there for several seconds, her heart hammering as he spilled himself down her throat. Spent, he gazed at her as she slowly drew her lips upon him. Wrapped tightly around, she coaxed every last drop from him, her tongue lapping the last of it from his tip as she released him. Her hair dripping wet, she looked up at him and smiled a slow, wicked smile as she swallowed, licking the last traces from her lips.

Slowly getting back on her feet, Beckett grabbed his head and drew him in for another passionate kiss, panting "Mine" as they came back for air staring directly in his eyes. With a last peck on the lips she turned and started heading towards the door calling out, "7'O clock my apartment. I'm cooking," over her shoulder and was gone leaving Castle with a silly grin on his face.

Castle let his head hit the tile behind him as he relived the last several minutes and the delicious things that Kate Beckett did to him. Suddenly remembering her parting words Castle straightened, showered quickly with water that had turned cold couple of minutes earlier but with the heat radiating from both of them they had hardly noticed. Towelling himself after turning off the shower Castle slipped into his clothes and started making his way out of the precinct with a skip in his step all the while thinking, 'Maybe he should work out at the precinct gym more often.'

-X-

The knock sounded right at 7. Shaking her head Beckett made her way towards the door opening it to reveal Castle standing their in a dark blue button down which brought out his eyes and slacks with a black sports coat looking at her with a shy smile and quietly said, "Hey."

"Hey Castle, come in," she said moving aside to let him enter her apartment. He pecked her cheek as he moved inside but suddenly looked back when Beckett caught his arm and before he knew it she had pulled him down for a fierce kiss leaving him breathless.

"That's better," she said as they came back for air and started moving towards the kitchen grabbing him a glass of wine whole while feeling Castle's gaze upon her. Castle had decided at the loft that he wouldn't try to overthink this, whatever this is. As much as he wanted to figure this out, he couldn't and every time he tried it left him with a headache and more confusion. One thing that he had decided was that they needed to talk, however messy it might be. He broke out of his musings as Beckett handed him a glass of wine and smiled a grateful smile at her.

"Dinner will be ready in a few minutes, you can take of your coat if you want," Beckett said and headed back to the kitchen to check something in the oven. The apartment filled with a delicious garlic smell as she brought out whatever she was baking in the oven and placed on the dining table. Castle sat down and looked at the unfamiliar dishes that sat in front of him.

"I hope Indian's alright with you," Beckett asked suddenly nervous. He looked at her with curious eyes like every other time he learned something new about her silently asking her for the story. "Back when I was at Stanford, I had a Indian friend whose family lived in San Francisco. I used to go to her house every other weekend for the semester I was there and got hooked on their cuisine. Her mother taught me a couple of dishes I liked and this is my favourite out of them, Chicken Tikka Masala and garlic naan," she said while pointing at the said dishes, "But it's alright if you want something else. Dad also doesn't like this as well, Boy does it not sit well with stomach," she rambled on with wide eyes and he decided they have ignored the elephant in the room long enough.

"Beckett what are we doing?" Castle asked.

She looked at him with wide eyes and a smile and said, "We're having dinner, Castle."

That was it. Castle had had enough of her deflection's. He had questions and he needed answers. He stood up from his chair abruptly and started pacing all the while trying to keep his voice calm as he spoke, "You know what I mean Beckett. I have questions that I'm trying to answer but I can't. Every time that I think I have an answer you do something and confuse me even more. I thought you didn't want me in you life after the shooting so I tried moving on but you came back and reeled me in. I thought you wanted us to move ahead, to be something more but you kept pushing me back, keeping me at a hand's distance. And now when I think I finally have a answer knowing you lied to me for over a year you are again trying to reel me in again, dangling false hope in front of me. Just please Kate tell me what are we doing," he finished in a pleading whisper.

She was frozen, finally realising the reason behind his emotional step back. He knows, somehow he found out about her lie that she has been keeping hidden away. "Castle...lie...I," she stammers trying to explain her reasons but seeing the realisation on her face, all the pent up anger that he had squashed inside came out, "Yes, lied, you fucking lied to me Kate for a year. You lied to me knowing how I feel about you. You abandoned me for three months without a single call of your well being knowing how I feel about you. What, you wanted to have a good laugh with Lanie off the love sick writer, wanted to see how much abuse this love sick puppy would take. Well not anymore. I trusted you Kate and you broke that trust." He finished and turned away from her.

Hearing the hurt in his voice broke her heart but when he told her he couldn't trust her she felt her own hackles rising, after all he had lied to her himself. "How can you say that? How big of a Hypocrite are you Castle blaming me for lying and breaking your trust and getting mad at me when you have been doing the same thing as well," she screamed causing him to turn towards her.

One look at her and he knew she had found out, somehow the conversation he was dreading to have was finally happening. In a quiet voice he said,"That's different."

"How the hell is that different. Huh. You lied to me about my mother's murder Castle. You promised me that we would do this together yet still you are looking at it behind my back knowing how dangerous this case is. You have daughter Rick, didn't you think about her, why are you doing this."

"Because I love you," his low voice interrupted her rambling, "And I know how much this case means to you, I know that you won't be able to be truly happy and love someone unless you have justice for your mother. So I thought I could keep you safe by keeping you away from this case and look for answers myself so that you can finally find someone you can love and be happy with," he finished and turned to look out her living room window feeling physically and emotionally drained and cursing himself for starting this discussion.

But then he felt her arms snake around his waist and felt her pressing herself on his back as she whispered, "That's where you are wrong Rick I already found him. I love you."

 **AN: Thanks for staying with the story so far. I really appreciate your reviews. Until next week!**


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